This week finds both John and Merlin helping things leave their house.

In our members-only bonus show: John previews vacation planning progress.

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(Recorded on Tuesday, July 19, 2022)

It is illegal to put items such as electronics, batteries, fluorescent bulbs, pesticides, and other chemicals in any of your bins. These items are not recyclable, compostable, nor are they allowed in our landfills.

John is discovering life with SwiftUI to be a bit of a drag.

Once John is ready, things kick off with a discussion of Merlin's increasing asymmetry.

Follow-up concerns pinned messages. Merlin thinks Marco still doesn't understand what a priority is, and John thinks skeuomorphism doesn't mean what it used to mean.

John graciously saves Merlin's sanity, and then your hosts express skepticism about the wisdom of offering subscriptions in premium automobiles.

As an extended mini-topic, you hosts talk about the recent FX show, The Bear. John points out that Merlin is still misquoting Billy Joel. But, so close.

(Recorded on Tuesday, July 12, 2022)

"The Enneagram, however, is ultimately subtle and complex, as you will appreciate the more you use it in your life."

"No touching!"

A Veblen good is a good for which demand increases as the price increases, because of its exclusive nature and appeal as a status symbol.

Is it the after times yet?

Things kick off with Merlin proposing a new title for himself which John immediately vetoes for cause.

In Follow-Up, John claims that he knows what month it is, plus there's some promising new data on John's TV project.

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Is Covid "over" to a point where we can feel good about making plans and…doing things?

In our members-only bonus show: John and Merlin read each other their ideas, and then eventually settle in for a deep discussion of performance reviews.

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(Recorded on Tuesday, June 28, 2022)

A network or group of people who are somehow affiliated or linked spiritually.

Your hosts have—at least by their standards—a pretty big announcement.

Things kick off with an immediate derail into Merlin's Apple Health data, with John noting that he never liked Statistics.

Next up, your hosts have—at least by their standards—a pretty big announcement. This leads to an appropriately in-depth exegesis into the process of making and selling a t-shirt.

Side topics include Scott Pilgrim, JavaScript, domain names, throwing money at artists you love, and just one of the numerous ways Factory Records managed to lose lots of money.

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In Follow-Up, John is still monitoring the trades for insight into whether he wants to buy the TV he thinks he wants to buy. This is, as you know, not a decision John takes lightly, so he has sought the counsel of a Former Professional TV Calibrator. Which is apparently a job.

In further Follow-Up, John's toes are still a mess—and John saw the charts that prove it.

In the interest of equal time, your hosts discuss the stuff that they buy from creators they love. Merlin has a cascade, and John doesn't wear his own shirts. Or hoodies.

This leads to the sad backstory behind John being contacted by one of his heroes. Imagine getting an email from somebody whose photo used to hang on your teenaged wall asking you to stop doing something.

Moof.

(Recorded on Tuesday, June 14, 2022)

Brian David Gilbert has always wanted to get good at PC gaming, but he's never had the space. Today, with a little help from his sponsor, he'll unravel how to make the perfect gamer space.

Lexy Savvides puts Apple Watch's ebike functionality through its paces in a beautiful neighborhood of western San Francisco. (MM)

This is a revival of Susan Kare’s original Chicago, the default typeface in Apple’s System (80s operating system, MacOS’s precursor).

Stuart Wellington is shredded like a ninja turtle. (MM)

How to Talk to People.

Telling strangers what you do for work and Merlin's life as a Ricky Montgomery dad.

In our members-only bonus show: John has questions about Merlin's Bike Results, and Merlin has gotten religion about how we make cities.

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(Recorded on Thursday, June 2, 2022)

John is preparing the way for a new AV setup (‼️)

From some of the most unhinged and maniacal minds in Hollywood today comes Diabolical, a collection of eight irreverent and emotionally shocking animated short films. Featuring stories by Seth Rogen, Awkwafina, Andy Samberg, Aisha Tyler, Justin Roiland, and more, each episode plunges elbow-deep into unseen crevices of The Boys Universe.

This is the story of the invention and development of a potentially revolutionary device, how Dan may or may not have doomed it, how the hype and speculation about the Segway got out of control, and how that speculation helped birth the modern internet.

Expanding highways doesn't do what you think it does.

But this thing—which is actually seven roundabouts in one—has been working for 60 years.

In a conversation both sprawling and comically on-brand, your hosts explore the concept of doing things "properly."

Things kick off with a dive on the hacker mindset, black swans, corner cases, and the exception that proves the rule. Whatever that means.

This leads to a side trip into security, troubleshooting, and the difference between non-linear thinking and untethered madness.

What does it mean to do something properly, when should it matter, and what are the risks and benefits of demanding that certain things always be done a certain way?

(Recorded on Tuesday, May 17, 2022)

Operation Mincemeat was a successful British deception operation of the Second World War to disguise the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily.

Operation Fortitude was the code name for a World War II military deception employed by the Allied nations as part of an overall deception strategy (code named Bodyguard) during the build-up to the 1944 Normandy landings.

A black swan is an unpredictable event that is beyond what is normally expected of a situation and has potentially severe consequences.

Black swan events are characterized by their extreme rarity, severe impact, and the widespread insistence they were obvious in hindsight.

A party or event that no one shows up for (or is poorly attended). Based on episode 21 of the Brady Bunch where Peter throws a party for himself and no one shows up.

On the heels of releasing their annual member episode, John and Merlin answer some of the very good questions posed by one of their friend-guests at length.

Things kick off with some discussion of food, which finds one of your hosts trying to prove with science that he tastes everything better.

Also, there is not a band or a sports team called "The Miami Giants."

Next up, John frog-marches Merlin through a check-in on his terrible sleep.

(Recorded on Tuesday, May 3, 2022)

"(often stylized in all caps)"

This is 2002's empirically best song for walking on a treadmill at a neighborhood YMCA.

"Yep. Senior play. In your FACE, Neil Simon."

"And I'm supposed to believe that's a coincidence, am I?"

You have to carry all your things.

John has project updates pertaining to his security camera journey, including his exasperation at the lack of one blindingly obvious feature. Also, your hosts talk about "Severance."

Things kick off with an unexpected chalk talk from Merlin on the provenance of a favorite phrase as well as an even less expected history of his college's dorms.

In follow-up, John would like to clarify that he knows the difference between a TV show about pirates and a Southern California hardcore band. Merlin offers to make John a mix tape.

After confidently announcing he's not going to talk about his Synology updates this week, Merlin talks about his Synology updates.

Believe it or not, this leads to a discussion of the sorry state of smart home products.

Finally, your hosts dig into the AppleTV+ series, Severance. Spoiler horn fires off at 1:31:12.

Your hosts dive into some recent features introduced by Plex—several of which would seem to scratch some of the itches brought up in their recent streaming media discussions.

In follow-up, John has corrections for himself, but Merlin says he knew what John meant. Errors are so much easier to identify once everybody else has had a chance to see them too.

In further follow-up, both the listeners and John have some advice for Merlin on programmatically scooting Git files around on his Mac.

This week's mini-topic involves some crossover with Do By Friday via a consideration of the varying depictions of J.H. Christ in the iconography of different faiths. Merlin admired his church's minimalist design aesthetic, but John recalls a parishioner at his childhood church espousing strong feelings about getting the man back on the wood where he apparently belongs.

(Recorded on Tuesday, April 5, 2022)

'Jim Shepard of V-3 remarked to Pollard once that he “was like a vampire on Titus, sucking songs out of the earth.”'

If you love visual comedy, you gotta love Edgar Wright, one of the few filmmakers who is consistently finding humor through framing, camera movement, editing, goofy sound effects and music.

As a main topic, your hosts dive deep on John's recent post about streaming video apps and a follow-up post about how people feel about the streaming apps they use.

DISCUSSED: Big news from Plex

So we started to dream up a rather big dream—a system that unifies all of your subscription services, all of your watchlists, and all of your recommendations into one easy-to-use app.

"Are you testing me, Satan?"

The state-of-the-art Creation Museum allows you to venture through biblical history, stunning exhibits, botanical gardens, planetarium, zoo, zip line adventure course, and much more.

Capgras syndrome (CS), or delusion of doubles, is a delusional misidentification syndrome. It is a syndrome characterized by a false belief that an identical duplicate has replaced someone significant to the patient.

This week, the main topic is John's Main Topic.

Things kick off with Merlin blowing his nose and John hearing it.

In Follow-Up, John brings us up to speed on his recent adventures in jury duty. Merlin has thoughts on what we can infer from a drug tester who keeps sipping meth from the big control jug.

Next, John is (yet—further) trolled by the jackals who make announcements about their future TVs. Merlin wonders if maybe John should just learn to weld.

(Recorded on Tuesday, March 22, 2022)

Merlin Mann returns to the show to discuss the election, by which I mean we mostly talk around the election. I hope we never do another show again with such heavy hearts, but whatever you think about this election, I think you’ll like this show.

Spicier version of Hot Chicken Flavor RamenExperience extremely spicy chicken flavor ramen!

Regent Law Professor James Duane gives viewers startling reasons why they should always exercise their 5th Amendment rights when questioned by government officials.

In this video we discuss 5 reasons why you should never talk to the police.